Unfortunately, veganism is often seen as the exclusion or absence of something. But living in a vegan world can be as joyous, and delicious, as ever. In most cases it is even more so, since eliminate exploitation from our lives makes room for more peaceful and just alternatives. I recently contributed a couple articles to The NewPeople, "Pittsburgh's Peace and Justice Newspaper," that touch on how flavorful and fun life can be without exploiting other animals.
One of the articles, titled "Vegan Desserts Take Over Pittsburgh," covered the Pittsburgh Vegan Dessert Fest '07 hosted by AnimalFreedom:
The event honored World Vegan Day, which marks the November 1944 coining of the word "vegan" (pronounced vee-guhn) by Donald Watson, an English conscientious objector. The term is derived from the beginning and ending of the term vegetarian, and represents taking vegetarianism to its logical conclusion. At the launch of the vegan movement, Watson wrote, "We need a name that suggests what we do eat, and if possible one that conveys the idea that even with all animal foods taboo, Nature still offers us a bewildering assortment from which to choose."
More than 100 people came to taste the "bewildering assortment" of cookies, cakes, pies, dairy-free ice creams and other treats contributed by over two-dozen participants -- well illustrating the abundance of animal-free choices.
The other article, "Pittsburgh Embraces Animal-Free Circuses," talks about circuses forgoing animal exploitation and focusing entirely on showcasing the amazing talents of human performers. Currently, the use of animals in circuses is usually seen as a welfare problem. As such, efforts tend to focus on tinkering with the regulations governing how nonhuman animals are treated instead of encouraging a non-exploitive alternative. Yet, from a vegan perspective, it makes more sense to "veganize" circuses by working to abolish those that exploit animals while replacing them with vegan-friendly alternatives. This is the approach that AnimalFreedom is taking with a campaign promoting circuses that feature only human performers. With non-exploitive circuses already out numbering exploitive circuses this year by eight to two, the article noted that Pittsburgh is already heading in the right direction.
